Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
03/20/2007
Former Chairman of Senate Intelligence Committee Bob Graham Endorses Iraq Accountability Act
Washington, D.C. - In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Former U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee Bob Graham (D-FL) today announced his support for the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act.
“The benchmarks in the bill to be considered by the House, and the deadlines for meeting them, will clarify the U.S. role in Iraq and generate performance by the Iraqis that in all likelihood would otherwise be postponed. In doing so, the bill provides what is currently missing, a plan to redeploy our troops from a situation that cannot be improved by their continued presence,” Senator Graham wrote.
The full text of the letter is below:
March 20, 2007
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H 232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Madam Speaker:
With the war in Iraq now in its fifth year, the need for a strategy to bring the involvement of United States combat troops in the fighting to an end is all the more urgent. The plan approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee, which conditions U.S. support on the accomplishment of performance benchmarks by the Iraqi government and establishes a process for shifting the focus of the U.S. military mission from combat to training and redeploying our troops, in my judgment offers a better chance for success than the open-ended commitment favored by President Bush.
Based on the intelligence we saw in our leadership positions on the congressional intelligence committees, neither you or I supported the invasion of Iraq. Intelligence assessments did not support the threat depicted by the Bush Administration, but did accurately predict, based on the history of Iraq and other factors, the likely violent aftermath of the fall of the Iraqi government. Regardless of whether temporary improvements in security result from increased U.S. troop levels, there is likely to be an escalation in violence whenever U.S. forces are withdrawn. The question for our nation is how many more sacrifices should our troops be asked to make to postpone that outcome?
It seems to me that a better course is to make clear to the Iraqis that the United States will assist in the training and related functions necessary to enable the Iraqi government to protect Iraq from invasion and establish a rule of law, but that the responsibility for executing those activities belongs to the Iraqi government. The benchmarks in the bill to be considered by the House, and the deadlines for meeting them, will clarify the U.S. role in Iraq and generate performance by the Iraqis that in all likelihood would otherwise be postponed. In doing so, the bill provides what is currently missing, a plan to redeploy our troops from a situation that cannot be improved by their continued presence.
The American people expect Congress to take action on Iraq. The House bill provides a responsible way forward and I support it.
Sincerely,
Bob Graham